The photographic news

• Bandzählung: 29.1885
• Erscheinungsdatum: 1885
• Sprache: Englisch
• Signatur: F 135
• Vorlage: Hochschule für Grafik und Buchkunst Leipzig
• Digitalisat: Hochschule für Grafik und Buchkunst Leipzig
• Digitalisat: SLUB Dresden
• Rechtehinweis: Public Domain Mark 1.0
• URN: urn:nbn:de:bsz:14-db-id1780948042-188500006
• PURL: http://digital.slub-dresden.de/id1780948042-18850000
• OAI: oai:de:slub-dresden:db:id-1780948042-18850000
• Sammlungen: LDP: Historische Bestände der Hochschule für Grafik und Buchkunst Leipzig
• Sammlungen: Fotografie
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October 2, 1885.] THE PHOTOGRAPHIC NEWS THE PHOTO-CRAYON AS A MEANS OF REVIVIFYING BUSINESS. UY J. IRAILL TAYLOR.* When sitting thinking of a suitable subject on which to write a lecturette for the Convention of the Photographic Association of Canada, my eyes were resting upon a beautiful enlargement of a portrait which I have framed, in my room. Its appearance is precisely similar to that of a very finely finished crayon, its margin (it is a vignette) being finished in the free, sketchy style peculiar to crayon portraiture executed by a master. It is quite suited for being allotted a place on the parlour walls of the most critical connoisseur. This picture, I concluded, would make a good practical subject on which to engage the time of the members for a few minutes, because, first, of its quality arid inherent attractiveness—it rivals the finest work executed in crayon ; secondly, because of the great ease and low price at which it can be produced ; and thirdly, as a consequence of these, because of a stimulus that may be imparted to a flagging trade by the introduction and vigorous pushing of these pseudo crayon enlargements. Why I am encouraged in selecting this topic is the fact that I some time ago tendered to a photo graphic friend, who was in low water, very much the same advice as I am now to offer you, the result being of the happiest nature. He is now in the possession of a good business, in which the ratio of profit is high, and he blesses the day when I urged him to bestow his attention upon photographs n la crayon. The style of portrait which I now advocate was introduced by the late Oliver Sarony, of Scarborough, England. It created quite a sensation, and proved the means by which large sums were made by those who were permitted to practice it—for its use was hampered by several restrictions, by which it was confined to a few; but it had a fault, a most serious one, and one by which it was killed very soon after its first advent—the pictures faded, not only rapidly, but very badly. Hence the process fell into disuse. But in the light of the cause of the fading, and the ease with which it may be avoided without sacrificing any good quality, the time has arrived when the photo-crayon may fittingly take its place among the every-day routine work of the gallery. There is in the photo-crayon an optical effect involved which imparts a brightness and beauty that is quite unattainable in a collodion transfer, which latter, simple though it be in pro duction, is still less so than the crayon, which is merely a collodion transparency made in a certain way, and backed by a sheet of tinted or white drawing paper of a somewhat coarse texture, pressed close to the glass, but not placed in adhesion to it. Before making further comments on the process, I proceed to give full details concerning the making of the picture. A glass plate, of any dimensions ranging between twelve inches and thirty inches long and of proportionate width, is made clean. The quality must be good in the sense of being free from air-bubbles, and it must be reasonably flat. Sprinkle it over with powdered talc, French chalk, or steatite—which commer cially means one and the same thing—and then with smart friction rub it all off. Coat with collodion, and immerse in a silver bath. What is termed “ good negative collodion ” has rather too much body for producing the best results ; hence it should be diluted with an equal bulk of a mixture of ether and alcohol, about equal parts of each, because, contrary to the production of a dense negative, we here require to make an image exceedingly thin. If the collodion is somewhat old, so much the better, because we require an image, the high lights of which must be bare glass. The sensitizing bath, composed of thirty grains of nitrate of silver to the ounce, and rendered slightly acid by nitric acid, is most advantageously used in a flat dish, especially when a large plate is employed. A silver or horn hook serves to raise up the plate when sensitized. For exposing, means analogous to the magic lantern must be adopted. If one possesses a copying camera sufficiently large, so much the better ; in that case, it must be tilted upwards so as to have the small negative projected against a background composed of a uniformly lighted sky. A sheet of white card board, upon which the sun’s rays fall, also answers well ; but this is by no means necessary, for an equally effective method “msists in darkening a room, placing the negative in a small camera fitted with a carte portrait lens, which must be used without any diaphragm, and in front of the camera, at a suitable • -ecturette before the Convention of the Photographic Association of Canada. distance, an easel on which to place the plate during exposure. The focussing and adjustment are effected upon a plate of glass the size of the sensitive plate, covered with white paper. Any powerful light p'aeed behind the negative will suffice for its illumination ; but I have invariably succeeded best by burning a strip of magnesium ribbon held in a pair of pincers immediately behind the negative, with a piece of ground glass interposed. By moving the light during exposure, equality of illumination is ensured. A vignetting mask, formed of a large sheet of card having an oval aperture of, say, four by six inches, must be held in front of the plate during exposure, and it must be manipu lated so as to impart a very soft edge to the vignette. It may here be said that it is indispensable the enlargement be vignetted. It is in the development where failure is likely to occur, for there is such innate depravity in the photographer that he is at first almost certain to carry it too far. AU ideas acquired by practice with negatives or transparencies for the stereoscope, or even the lantern, must be discarded, and a new education ba commenced. A twelve-grain iron developer will answer well, but the resulting tone will be bad, necessitating toning by flush ing the image with chloride of gold solution after fixing. The best iron developer I have employed is composed of 20 grains protosulphate of iron to the ounce of water, with enough citric acid to keep its action well checked ; added to this are a few drops of a solution of gelatine in sulphuric or nitric acid. This gives an image of a purplish black tone, which is pleasing and quite permanent. The most delicate effects are obtained by pyrogallic acid, 3 grains to the ounce, with half its proportion of citric acid, and enough alcohol added to make it flow readily over the plate. Watch the appearing of the image very atten tively, and be careful not to allow it to proceed beyond a thin and ghostly-looking stage, else it will be spoiled. Fix with hyposulphite. If subsequent toning is to be had recourse to, then will cyanide prove the best fixing agent, as it sometimes causes the lights to be clearer. It is essential to the success of the operation that these and the margin of the plate be clear glass. When dried, the picture is examined by pressing a sheet of pure white paper hard against the film side, when it should pre sent the appearance of a fine solar or platinotype. If satis factory, varnish, and it is then ready for mounting. It is at this stage where the distinctive characteristic of the process asserts itself. For optical reasons, which it would be too tedious here to enter upon, when this image is pressed in mechanical contact with a surface of any material, such as drawing paper, the spectator, no matter whether he be artist or photographer, ceases to realize that the image is on the glass; but estimates it as being on the paper by which it is backed; hence all markings and drawings made upon such paper become in effect part and parcel of the image. Sarony’s application of this principle lay in his adopting as a backing one of a series of backing papers of different tints, upon which had been printed, by lithography, a few sketchy, crayon-like lines, so as to surround and merge into the vignetting of the bust. When such crayon lines are pro duced by the hand on the special sheet of backing paper selected, care must be taken that the colour of the black lead pencil or crayon employed for this purpose assimilate to that of the en largement. Anything defective in the photograph may be sup plied in the backing paper by a few pencil touches, for, as previously observed, it is a peculiarity of the process that its photographic origin on the glass is not suspected, and that everything appears to be executed on the paper. This backing should by preference be toned drawing paper, although what I consider the finest photo-crayon I possess, is backed by a sheet of blotting paper of coarse texture, to which I imparted a very deep cream colour by immersion in water, to which I added a few drops of one of the aniline dyes. A very pale green, just bordering on the deep cream, is also a good colour for the back ing paper. But the tints procurable are quite numerous, and selection must be left to the taste of each photographer. This enlargement looks best when framed in a rather light yet elegant and ornate gold frame. The picture looks so beautiful that it would be a pity to detract from its merits by framing it unworthily. “One great point to be observed is to have the backing paper pressed close up against the glass. If care be not taken to do so the picture will suffer in vigour and sharpness. But do not imagine that by pasting or cementing the backing paper to the plate that any improvement will accrue. Such proceeding will totally destroy the effect desired. The optical principle involved in this process demands that both photo-